Unfinished Business (was: Did Lupin Kill Sirius?)

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 82908

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> wrote:
> Up to the end of OOP, Harry thought his task was to live up to his 
> father's legacy. The readers, well, this one anyway, have always 
> suspected that  Harry's task is actually to succeed where his 
> father failed. James failed to catch the traitor, failed to save
> Lily, failed to keep his friends from turning to the Dark Side, failed 
> to reconcile with Snape, failed to trust Dumbledore fully.
> 
>  I think Harry's friends will be tempted as James's were, but 
> because they remain united, they will stand fast.  Snape is not 
> remote from the story. There are hints that James disregarded 
> information from Snape that could have saved him and Lily. Will 
> Harry make the same mistake because he's blaming the wrong 
> person for Sirius's death? 
> 
> Since James was undone by treachery, Harry must face 
> treachery and defeat it. Not knowing whom to trust is a major 
> theme in all the books. 

That's a very interesting idea, Pippin, and it answers a question that 
has been in the back of my mind since I read OOP.  While I was 
saddened by Sirius' death, I mostly didn't lament the many things that 
he never got to do.  With one exception - it bothered me tremendously 
that Sirius was never able to lay to rest his quarrel with Snape.  More 
accurately, it bothered me that Snape now holds a grudge which he can 
never resolve against not one but two dead men.  

Snape has a great deal of unfinished business with the Marauders, and 
at the end of OOP, the last man who was in any position to resolve the 
situation was killed (I don't consider Lupin an active party in the discord, 
although Snape clearly does.  He was obviously only a passive observer).  
This led to the uncomfortable conclusion that JKR might intend to leave 
Snape to fester in his anger for the rest of his life.

Now you've suggested a more interesting possibility - Harry will not only 
learn from his father's mistakes, he will work to rectify them.  The feud 
between Snape and the Marauders will be laid to rest by their collective 
son.

As for Lupin, while I'm having trouble accepting the notion of Lupin the DE 
or Lupin as Sirius' killer, I have to admit that on a thematic level, the idea is 
intriguing.  Lupin is essentially the last of the Marauders.  Two are dead.  
One has committed an unpardonable betrayal and will almost certainly die 
before the series ends.  We're left with a vestigial character, and I personally 
would find it awfully repetitive if Lupin were to die a righteous death in the 
line of duty like James and Sirius.  

However, Lupin the DE is even more ant-climatic.  We already have the 
quintessential betrayer in Peter Pettigrew, and that character has the 
distinction of owing a life-debt to Harry.  No matter how spectacularly Lupin 
betrays the OOP, he could never be as important as Pettigrew already is.

In conclusion, I like the idea that there's more to Lupin then meets the eye, 
and that he has an unusual, and possibly painful destiny.  Right now I find 
both proposed options - betrayal and death -  unsatisfying.

Abigail